The Nightmare of Haditha Is Ending

Posted by guest blogger Locutisprime.

A military judge on Tuesday dismissed the case against the highest-ranking U.S. Marine charged in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha, whittling down the list of those who must still face justice for the 2005 incident to just the accused ringleader.   

Military Judge Col. Steven Folsom dropped all charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, who was accused of violating a lawful order and dereliction of duty, at a hearing at the Camp Pendleton Marine base in Southern California.

Folsom's decision means that, out of eight Marines originally charged in December 2006, six have won dismissals of their charges and one has been cleared at court martial.

The accused ringleader, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, still faces court martial. The proceedings against him, however, have been put on hold pending the appeal of a pretrial ruling.

Folsom threw out the charges against Chessani, a 44-year-old Colorado native, after finding that a four-star general who oversaw the case could have been influenced by an investigator who later became his adviser.

The judge ruled that military prosecutors could refile the case but it was not immediately clear if they would do so. The prosecution could also appeal his ruling.

Chessani's lawyer said the married father of six young children and his legal team were "cautiously optimistic" that his two-year legal battle was behind him and that he could retire.

"We hope its over. We believe it should be over," attorney Brain Rooney said.

Chessani was the highest-ranking officer accused of wrongdoing in the shootings at Haditha, which were first reported in Time magazine and portrayed by Iraqi witnesses as a "massacre" of unarmed civilians.

The witnesses claimed angry Marines killed the two dozen men, women and children out of revenge after a popular comrade, Lance Cpl. Miguel "TJ" Terrazas, died in a roadside bombing.

The reports brought international condemnation on U.S. troops in Iraq and famously inspired Rep. John Murtha, a Democrat from Pennsylvania and critic of the war, to charge that the Marines had killed the civilians "in cold blood."

Defense attorneys said the civilians died during a pitched battle with insurgents in and around Haditha that followed the death of Terrazas.

Rooney said that the fact that seven of the eight Marines had been cleared or no longer faced charges proved that the events at Haditha were "not the massacre that Time magazine and John Murtha made it out to be."

"We've had to go through a two-year process to prove what we knew from the beginning," he said. "You need to trust what your battlefield commanders are telling you and give them the benefit of the doubt."

-Reuters  

The nightmare of Haditha has finally unraveled and is coming to an end. Eight US Marines were charged with killing 24 civilians in Haditha almost two years ago. Actually, they were charged with and being prosecuted for the cold blooded murder of 24 civilians in Haditha. And if the media reports and the sentiments of those like Rep. John Murtha and others had prevailed, they would have been convicted and sentenced to prison or worse two years ago.

But now two years after the fact and after all the heralded headlines of Marine murderers and John Murtha's own private crusade of trial by public opinion, justice has finally prevailed. Charges against all but one Marine have been summarily dismissed at courts martial.

No banner headlines across the media today. No welcome home or thank you acclamations from a grateful nation. Just  the escape of certain unjust punishment for seven of those who shared the immutable belief that they had served their country and risked their lives for a worthy cause. Now, those seven can return to their own private lives and their own private hell. Shamed and bloodied for having had the unbridled courage and the fool hardy temerity, to believe that their country and their Corps actually supported their efforts and their sacrifices on behalf of this nation.

Many people speak of the terror and agony of combat. And of how it affects the psyche of men for the rest of their lives. Some call it post traumatic stress disorder. But what do you call a betrayal of faith and confidence by the service and the country that you served. Or the injury inflicted when your nation brands you a murderer up front, then slowly works it's way toward the truth. Is there a medical diagnosis for that or an identified service connect disability condition? What about a treatment. Can you restore a man's self pride, his honor or his feelings of honor and duty, after he has  been publicly shamed by his own country and vilified by those in the media and the US Congress? Those who had been all to eager to strip away his rights and condemn him of a crime for eternity, are now deafeningly silent.

I lived through it thirty six years ago. My own private anguish over why did those who had placed me in such a circumstance, turn their back on me and belittle me when I came home from fighting for them. For having done no more than serving my country and performing my duty, I was vilified, shamed and accused of the unspeakable. Thankfully, many like myself learned to deal with the lack of respect and the lack of appreciation and the snide remarks and the sneers. We simply moved on with our lives and learned to shy away from any discussion of that period of our lives and service. But the wound remained. As it will always remain.

The Marine Corps has gotten it right to this point. They have examined the scurrilous accusations and the lack of any substantive evidence against these Marines and dismissed the charges against seven of them, first brought to the fore front by an Army general in theater tow years ago. Someone who obviously had either his own appeasement agenda to fulfill, or was seeking some political career enhancement at the expense of the truth. There now remains only one Marine to stand court martial for crimes alleged at Haditha. My prayers are with him.  May justice prevail for him also and let it be quickly.

Semper Fidelis

Comments

[tim aka The Godless Heathen]

So they weren’t cold blooded killers like Murtha said? Well imagine that, actually having due process, the presumption of innocence, a fair trial…

So Mr. Murtha, when will you apologize to these fine men, these men of honor and courage, these Marines?

A hearty OOOORRAAAHHH!!! to the Haditha Marines. I’m looking forward to SSGT Wuterich’s case being dismissed to make it a clean slate, 8 for 8.

Semper Fi gentlemen and please remember some of us were behind you from the beginning.

[xtnyoda]

God bless them.

Now, how about a civil lawsuit against Time magazine and John Murtha for mental anguish and defamation?

Oh, and we could bring one against John Kerry for calling we Nam vets "baby killers" before our congress and the crushing impact that accusation, and other false charges leaved against the American serviceman caused.

The American serviceman is certainly responsible for his actions...so should his accuser be held accountable for liable during time of war.

semper fi

[Mommynator]

Knowing that al-Qaeda is sneaky, sordid, immoral and cowardly and that they hide behind innocent civilians in the course of their pusillanimous murdering, I never doubted for one second that these men were innocent of these scurrilous charges.

Glad to see justice finally caught up with these innocent men.

Eat it, Murtha.

[xtnyoda]

Perhaps xtnyoda was just a little prophetic on this one!

QUOTE:
[World Net Daily
Exclusive IN THE MILITARY
Haditha Marine prepares to sue Murtha over smear
Congressman had accused soldiers of killing 'in cold blood'
Posted: June 18, 2008
6:14 pm Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

With most of the eight Marines charged in the Haditha, Iraq, incident now exonerated, the highest-ranking officer among the accused is considering a lawsuit against Democratic Rep. John Murtha, who fueled the case by declaring the men cold-blooded killers.

In an interview with nationally syndicated radio talk host Michael Savage, the lead attorney for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani said he and his client will look into suing Murtha and the Time magazine reporter, Tim McGuirk, who first published the accusations by Iraqi insurgents...]

The rest of the story can be found:
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=67434

Perhaps a little cold water on some quick to castigate? Or, perhaps Time and Murtha will get to sense a little heat from the fire.

[Locutisprime]

I saw that last night.

Semper Fidelis!

[Humbled Infidel]

Does anyone know who the 60-65 NCIS offense lawyers are who are set on persecuting these innocent Marines?

Them, Murtha and everyone involved in doing this disgraceful treatment to these Marines, and all Marines that have been drug through this type of abuse, need to be held accountable with consequences.

Who'd thought so many American's would help our enemies in their battle against our Marines, our country?